Tagged: Lowell Spinners

The Red Sox announced the winners of their 2008 Minor League awards on Thursday, with the recipients being honored during a pre-game on-field ceremony as Boston finishes up a four-game set with the Cleveland Indians at Fenway Park.

Here’s a list of the recipients:

Pitcher
of the Year: RHP Daniel Bard, Greenville/Portland: Combined to go 5-1 with a 1.51 ERA and
107 strikeouts in 77.2 innings in 46 relief appearances at Greenville and
Portland…Was 1-0, 0.64 with 43 strikeouts in 28.0 innings over 15 games
at Greenville and 4-1, 1.99 with 7 saves and 64 strikeouts in 49.2 innings in
31 outings with Portland…Was Boston’s April Minor League Pitcher of
the Month…Was the 28th overall pick in the 1st
round of the 2006 First-Year Player Draft

Offensive
Player of the Year: 1B Lars Anderson, Lancaster/Portland: Combined to bat .317 with 85 runs, 32
doubles, 18 homers, and 80 RBI in 118 games for Lancaster and
Portland…Had a .317 average with 13 homers and 50 RBI in 77 games with
the JetHawks and a .316 mark with 5 homers and 30 RBI in 41 games with the Sea Dogs…Had
the 3rd highest average and finished 2nd in runs among Boston minor
leaguers…Reached base in 36 of 41 games after promotion to Portland on
July 17…Was the Eastern League Player of the Week for period ending
August 17…Was Boston’s 22nd round selection in the 2006
First-Year Player Draft.

Defensive
Player of the Year: OF Che-Hsuan Lin, Greenville: Had a .961 fielding percentage in 207
total chances in 88 games in the outfield for Greenville…Batted .249 with
5 homers and 37 RBI in 91 games for the Drive…Ranked 2nd among
Boston minor leaguers with 33 stolen bases…Was the Most Valuable Player
of the 2008 XM Satellite Radio All-Star Futures Game at Yankee Stadium, going
2-for-2 with a home run…Was signed by the Red Sox as a non-drafted free
agent in June 2007.

Base
Runner of the Year: OF Wilfred Pichardo, GCL Red Sox/Lowell: Led the Red Sox organization with 43
stolen bases…Topped the Gulf Coast League with 42 stolen bases in 51
attempts, the most steals in the GCL since 1991…Batted .297 in 52 games
for the GCL Red Sox, finishing 3rd in the league in runs (36) and 5th
in hits (60)…Played in 3 games at Lowell at the end of the
season…Was signed by the Red Sox as a non-drafted free agent in July
2006.

Minor
League Latin Program Pitcher of the Year: LHP Manuel Rivera, DSL Red Sox:Was 4-3 with a 2.24 ERA and 58 strikeouts
in 52.1 innings in 13 starts…Is participating in the Florida
Instructional League.

For a moment, it looked like Short Season Single-A Lowell were on the cusp of reaching the New York-Penn League Finals with a two-game throttling of Batavia. After all, the Spinners won Game 1 in 12 innings and led 8-2 in the sixth frame of Game 2. But that’s where things changed. The Muckdogs rallied for 11 runs in the final three innings, winning Game 2 and forcing a decisive Game 3 on Wednesday.

Batavia took advantage of its new life, defeating the Spinners, 3-2, earning the right to advance to the best-of-3 championship series against Jamestown. For Lowell, it was a season in which it dominated the NYP Stedler division by 7 1/2 games down the stretch, finishing with a 40-33 record.

The Spinners were by and large led by Mitch Dening throughout the season. Dening, the Australia native, batted .321 over the course of 62 game in 2008 while playing strong defense in the outfield. On the mound, Brock Huntzinger was 5-0 in eight starts with a 0.64 ERA before moving to play with the Greenville Drive. In the bullpen, Stephen Fife went 1-1 with a 2.33 ERA in 14 games — a solid start for the 2008 First-Year Player Draft pick.

The Red Sox, in dire need of backup in their outfield with J.D. Drew headed for the 15-day disabled list, acquired Mark Kotsay from the Braves in exchange for Minor League outfielder Luis Sumoza.

Sumoza, 20, was hitting .301 with 11 homers and 38 RBIs in 51 games with Single-A Lowell in 2008. He was in his fifth season with the Boston organization after being signed as a non-drafted free agent in July 2004.

Kotsay, who was signed by Florida in the first round of the 1996 amateur draft, spent time with the Marlins, Padres, A’s and Braves before coming to Boston. He’s a career .282 hitter with 109 homers and 597 RBIs in 1,427 career games.

He’s batting .289 with six home runs and 37 RBIs in 81 games this season. Kotsay, 32, is a strong left-handed hitter versus right-handers (.305 lifetime average) and is a strong outfielder — having not committed an error in 176 chances this season.